Hooray for a new school year

Yesterday was Day 7 for Elizabeth and Robert in their new schools. I picked Elizabeth up yesterday and asked her what she did in school and got a 20-minute explanation of a really cool project they did in their science class.

Beats the heck out of fifth grade. She's really fired up.

What a drag it is getting old

We haven't written about Pa much in the course of this blog and the 13 months we've been back in Minneapolis. Truth be told, I often don't know what to say to him or about him.

Pa is 96. He lives on the other side of the lake, in a nursing home. When we got here, he was still in assisted living, where he had his own two-room apartment with a little kitchen and a bathroom, and 24-hour assistance. but some months back, Pa got to the end of his savings and had to let them go, put the apartment up for sale and had to move into the nursing home wing of the facility. Only through the generosity of my cousin Chris does Pa get a room to himself.

Nanny has been gone for 12 years now. Pa lived in the old house in Niles, Ill., with help, until one day he drove his car through the back wall of the garage and Mom brought him here to live in Minneapolis.

It's hard to visit him sometimes. Pa still functions pretty well, mostly knows who we are and who the kids are. That's especially true for Colleen. When we first moved here, Colleen would be very shy when we'd get to his room, and if we spent an hour there, she wouldn't warm up until the final 15 minutes. That shyness went away a little while ago and now she is very playful with him, and I know he appreciates it. When I think about what he's gained by living what can only be seen as beyond his expected time, I know that relationships with our kids are on the list.

We brought him over on Labor Day for dinner on the patio and just hung out. He hates the food in the nursing home but to be honest, he can't taste it anyway, so it doesn't make much difference. He spent a good amount of time trying to recreate these great paper airplanes he used to fold when we were kids, but couldn't quite figure it out.

Mom gets exasperated with her dad, calling at all hours, not always remembering who he's spoken to already or what they've spoken about or agreed to. And Cate, bless her soul, has taken Pa to heart in our time here. We went over to visit on Sunday and Cate basically drove the conversation. I sat there in awe of her.

Tonight Pa called -- having trouble with his television remote for the first time in a while. All Pa wants to do is watch the ballgame, and sometimes he gets in his own way. There are too many buttons, and he really only needs five of them. He gets so frustrated. I went over there to fix the remote and he wanted to know what I had done, but I couldn't tell him because sometime he might want to fix it himself. And that would only make it worse.

I don't want to be 96. Sure, 85 maybe. And fifty years from now, maybe 96 will be the new 86. But old and frail and unable to help myself, that's not something I want to be. I don't care how many great-grandchildren I would live to see.

But I don't get the sense that his time is up. The last time I spoke to Nanny, she was deep into the throes of Alzheimer's, and even though I only got the true Nanny for a couple of minutes, I was thankful because I knew I wouldn't get another chance.

I have yet to feel that with Pa.

The wonders of Mylar

Robert got a Mylar balloon at his birthday party, with Star Wars characters on it. You know Mylar, the shiny helium balloons.

Today, about 11 weeks later, it finally fell.

That must have been some funky helium.

Elizabeth and J.J. Jumper

In March 2001, Catholic University won the national championship of Division III men's basketball. Cate and Elizabeth drove down from Reston, Va., on game day to see them play in the title game, which I was in Salem covering for D3hoops.com. They got there just before tipoff and cheered us on as the Cardinals beat William Paterson.

After the game, pyrotechnics blew from the ceiling and confetti poured down on the floor. There was jumping and celebrating, net cutting and the whole 94 feet. Or nine yards. Since I was working, I was there long after the game, and Cate and Elizabeth were, too, with Elizabeth walking around the floor, picking up the colored strips of paper and stuffing them in a popcorn box.

It's her only memory of the game. She was not quite 3-1/2.

The following November, the Harlem Globetrotters came to Catholic University for an exhibition game, part of the spoils of victory. It was a packed house, and I was sitting on the floor, taking pictures. Elizabeth, at times, was sitting next to me. So was Jack Lonergan.

Jack is the son of then-Catholic U. coach Mike Lonergan. He is a little over a year younger than Elizabeth. But of course, he's in the gym all the time. That's his second home.

J.J. Jumper, the official mascot of NCAA basketball, was there entertaining the crowd. At one point, he was tossing out shirts to the crowd. Elizabeth was just about to turn 4. She was dying for a shirt, and supplies were running low.

Jack, Elizabeth and I were sitting on the sidelines near center court and at one point J.J. turned his back and Jack bolted for a shirt. You know, as much as a 2-year-old can bolt.

Elizabeth turned to look at me and I told her, "Go ahead!"

I mean, she was running out there with the coach's son. Who was going to stop her?

She got back to our spot on the sidelines, beaming, before J.J. turned around. Jack got his too. The shirt was an XL, down to her feet.

She's had it ever since, and in fact, she's sleeping in it tonight.

And seven years later, it's still big.

Fa ... so, la-ti-do

When I auditioned for the Minnesota Chorale two months ago, I figured I was in it for the notes. Not the ones I'd be singing, but the ones I'd hope to get from the director. As in, "here's why we didn't select you and here's what you can work on."

So, when I was not only offered a spot, but offered it on the spot, I was a little surprised. And the whirlwind to being back on stage at Orchestra Hall two months later has been a rush. Six weeks of rehearsal, twice a week, almost three hours a night, learning a piece of music (Aida) I not only had never sung but had basically never heard before, in a language I'd never sung in before. (Why not Latin? Ugh.)

Other things I've done -- I've sung on a big stage (Kennedy Center) with a large group in a full orchestra. But this was a little different. There were more tenors in this performance (25) than every other choir I've sung with, combined.

I was a little worried when I had a really sloppy first act in Saturday morning's dress rehearsal, but I nailed down almost all of the loose ends.

In all, it was a lot of fun, certainly a great first project with the Minnesota Chorale. It's sounding like a lean season for the Chorale because of budgetary cutbacks with the Minnesota Orchestra, so it's perhaps not the best time to join the group, but many people have been in the Chorale for decades, and clearly, they must be desperate for tenors, since they took me. We'll find out later this week what else we'll be doing this year -- the thing about the Chorale is not everyone does every project, so I might only sing in a couple of things with them this year. But so far, it's been just a blast.

Very enthusiastic audience. Our Aida (Latonia Moore) was just spectacular. Verdi, of course, wrote a beautiful opera.

And afterward, Cate and I got to go out for a little late-night refreshment.